1386First mention of the town hall

There is evidence that Alsfeld already had a Schultheißen, i.e. a representative of the Landgrave, in 1231. A document from 1341 already mentions a mayor, aldermen and council. The name of a mayor, Conze Schaufuze, is also recorded for the first time in 1374. And the earliest mention of a raithus can be found in an account book from 1386/87, which lists masonry work on the Leonhardsturm and the town hall in 1386. For the tower, the date is considered to be the date of its construction; in the case of the town hall, it is not clear whether it was newly built or already repaired in this year. In any case, later sources also confirm the existence of a town hall, for example on July 12, 1487, where it says: so wir jares uff unser raithus vallen han.

This older town hall was destroyed by fire in 1510 or 1511. Archaeological excavations carried out in 2021 as part of the market square renovation in the area between the market square and church square surprisingly revealed foundation wall remains of an older building which, according to a document from 1439 from the council register, may have stood exactly where the construction of the new, current town hall began in 1512 from the 14th century until the fire at the beginning of the 16th century. (NH)